


Keep Your Head Low

by enjolraspermittedit



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bending the rules of both Hadestown the Musical and Hadestown the place, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Moderate Sexual Content, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:00:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23884165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjolraspermittedit/pseuds/enjolraspermittedit
Summary: Eurydice is stuck alone in Hadestown and Orpheus is stuck alone on Earth. But there's a crack in a wall, a train, and a Queen of the Underworld who is willing to help the young lovers in secret - all while trying to rebuild the Underworld, fix her own marriage, and avoid Hades's suspicions about what she and Eurydice are constantly doing. In other words, Persephone and Hades are trying again and Persephone is letting Orpheus and Eurydice try again, unbeknownst to Hades.(Chapters will alternate between being Eurydice/Orpheus centric and Hades/Persephone centric)
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown), Hades/Persephone (Hadestown)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Keep Your Head Low

“Life” in Hadestown was not easy for anyone, but especially not for Eurydice. Work became a habit after Orpheus turned around, but a hated habit. She wanted out. She missed the surface.

The only one who understood was Persephone, but even she was gone for now. Eurydice had no idea how many months it had been, but she was sure it was almost time for the Lady Of The Underground to, well, come back underground. Hades clearly wasn’t going to pick her up too early this year, but now Eurydice almost wished that he would. She missed the goddess, and she was desperate to know how Orpheus was doing up above.

The crack in the wall had expanded, but oddly enough, Hades hadn’t done much to stop it. If Eurydice had the energy to care about anything besides Orpheus and her own exhaustion, she’d be suspicious. Instead of thinking about it, she toiled away, trying to lose herself in the labor, but not as much as the other shades had lost their own selves.

She wasn’t sure when, but eventually she heard the sound of the train. Either more dead had arrived or Persephone had. And it turned out it was the latter. Eurydice was the first person that Persephone chose to talk to. 

“Eurydice.”

Eurydice jerked around as soon as she heard the voice. “You’re back. How is he?”

“Orpheus is...well, he ain’t doing so great, but he’ll survive. Hermes and I are trying to convince him to write songs again, and we’ve also been trying to convince him that you still love him and that you don’t blame him. Spring and summer were great up top, and I think that helped him a bit.” She pulled the young girl into a hug then, and Eurydice felt her drop something into the pocket of her uniform. “That’s just for you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “And I’ll have something else for ya later, something for all of my hard workers. I’ll see you there.”

Eurydice nodded, and Persephone was gone almost before she could blink. She ducked behind a pile of bricks to see what the queen had given her. It couldn’t have been alcohol - she wouldn’t have done it right there, right then. And besides, there wasn’t much use in sneaking in liquor and then inviting her to the speakeasy right after. There was only one other thing that Persephone could have given her. Hands shaking, Eurydice reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope. As happy as Eurydice felt, she also felt scared. Was she ready to read Orpheus’s words again?

_Yes._

The first thing that she noticed was the fact that his handwriting was messier than she’d remembered. 

_My dearest Eurydice;_

_Every waking and sleeping moment, I regret the fact that I turned on you, literally and figuratively. Mr. Hermes and Lady Persephone are insisting that you place no blame on me, that you still love me. I am telling you that you should not love me, nor should you wait up for someone who failed you. That being said, I am still waiting for you. They told me that I cannot go to the underworld yet as it is before my time, but I desperately wish to, as I long to see you again. For now, they want me to stay alive and they want me to focus on my songs and my poetry. It is impossible without you by my side but I will continue to try to return to my old self. I do not want to fail you again._

_Much love,  
Orpheus._

Eurydice shoved the letter back into her uniform pocket, trying to push the words out of her mind. She didn’t want to cry, not here. So she worked until she couldn’t handle it anymore, and then she snuck away to go visit the speakeasy. As always, the Lady Of The Upside Down was sitting behind the bar. She made eye contact with Eurydice and motioned for her to walk over to her.

By the time that Eurydice had sat herself down next to Persephone, the goddess had already poured her a drink. Persephone moved her face close to Eurydice’s, talking quietly. There were some things that even the other workers weren’t supposed to overhear.

“Did you read it?”

Eurydice nodded, and she felt like she wanted to cry again. “Thank you.”

“That’s not all, though,” Persephone continued. “I mean, it’s the only letter, for now. But it’s not your only...means of contacting him.”

“What?” Eurydice said, much too loudly. A couple of shades looked over, but quickly returned to their own sad business.

“Sorry,” Eurydice whispered. “What?”

“There’s a crack in the wall,” Persephone told her vaguely, then she started to walk away, gesturing for Eurydice to follow. They crept to the back of the speakeasy, where part of the wall was.

Eurydice stared blankly at it for a few moments, then looked back over to Persephone. “So what you’re saying is…” She wouldn’t let herself finish the sentence. She didn’t want to get her hopes up.

“It’s not as good as you want it to be,” Persephone said. “I’m just gonna be straightforward with you. Shades can’t leave the Underworld, and living souls can’t enter. Those ain’t Hades’s rules, or at least not directly, it’s just the way things work. But…” She stopped herself. Should she tell Eurydice what it was that she knew? She was trying to fix her relationship with her husband, could she really just go behind his back like this? Selling alcohol was one thing, breaking the laws of the underworld for someone who had already tried to do so was completely different. But she owed it to the girl who managed to fix her marriage.

Persephone took a deep breath before continuing. “There’s always an in-between. The crack. The train, even, but that would pose a lot of questions from Hades and the others. Hermes would be willing, but-”

Eurydice couldn’t stop herself, she cut off the rest of Persephone’s sentence. “But it can happen? I could see him?”

“Not for long periods of time at once, and it would be the ultimate risk. I haven’t exactly worked it all out yet, but the short answer is yes, you can see him. Probably.” 

Eurydice jumped into Persephone’s arms then, laughing for the first time since she’d arrived in Hadestown. “I owe you everything.” As she said it, she realized just how dangerous this was - for all of the obvious reasons, but also because it was never good to be in debt to a goddess. But of course, Persephone waved her away.

“I’ll be in contact with you, sister. I’ll let you know the minute I figure this out.”

Eurydice glanced at Persephone once more and left the room smiling, not trusting herself to not share the news with the other patrons of the speakeasy. For the next few days, work was almost easy, almost tolerable. She allowed herself some hope for once, faith in Persephone that this whole plan would work out. It took longer than she’d hoped, but she was not going to complain. She was just so happy that this was happening. 

It did take some time before Persephone approached her, but Eurydice was patient. Once again, she was grateful for the distractions that the endless work brought.

“I figured something out,” Persephone told her one day. Rather than Eurydice sneaking into Persephone’s bar, Persephone’s had snuck into Eurydice’s work area.

“Oh?” Eurydice said casually, not wanting to make a scene.

“Listen out for the next train,” was all Persephone responded with.

And that was exactly what Eurydice did. She tried her best to keep up with her work, she did, but she was constantly listening out for the whistle of the train. She didn’t know what to expect when she saw Orpheus again, she didn’t even know when to expect him. How would she get away with this? What if it was some sort of trap? She understood Orpheus’s doubt. Could she trust anyone in the underworld?

Yes. Yes, she could.

Which is why she jumped up the second she heard a train whistle, abandoning all of her work. The race to the platform felt unbearable, but eventually she was there. She stood by nonchalantly as a couple of new workers got off. At least there’d been less and less dead recently. 

Hermes poked his head out of the door once all of the shades had walked away, nodding at Eurydice. “Get in. And make the most of it, I’ll only be able to do a few round trips from here to up top before the boss gets suspicious.”

Eurydice nodded, giving Hermes a grateful smile before climbing on board the train.

And there he was - Orpheus was standing alone in the middle of one of the train’s cars, clutching his lyre, staring at the door that Eurydice had just entered through.

“I missed you,” was all he managed to get out before bursting into tears.

Eurydice collapsed into Orpheus’s arms, sobbing with him.

“I’m so sorry…” he kept repeating.

Eurydice shushed him. “How many times do you have to be told, I don’t blame you. It’s hardly your fault.”

“But it is. I had a task, and I failed.”

“You can’t be blamed for not trusting Hades. Either way, I don’t want to talk about this right now. We don’t have much time and the last thing I want to do is waste it by talking about past mistakes.”

Orpheus still felt awful, but he knew that Eurydice was right. They could dwell on the past as much as they wanted to, but nothing would bring Eurydice back for good, so they had to make do with the next best option (which, in Orpheus’s opinion, was still much more than he could ever have dreamed of asking for). He picked Eurydice up into his arms, carrying her over to one of the seats.

“You’ve gotten heavier,” he said.

“No, I didn’t. More like the opposite. You’re probably just noticing all of the muscles that I gained from working. In truth, I look and feel like a skeleton.” Eurydice started to unbutton her work uniform, to show Orpheus what she was talking about.

“You know, I was hoping to be the one to do that for you,” Orpheus said quietly. “If that’s okay?”

Eurydice couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s more than okay.”

Orpheus nodded, still hesitating a bit. He finished unbuttoning Eurydice’s top, sliding it off of her. He then helped her out of her undershirt, pausing for a moment just to stare at her.

“You gonna continue?” Eurydice teased.

“Of course,” Orpheus said. “Just wanted to take a moment to look at you. I can...I can do that, right?”

“You can. Nothing bad will happen this time.”

Orpheus didn’t say anything else, but instead reached over to take one of her breasts into his hand, pausing for only a few seconds before pressing his mouth to one of her nipples, sucking at it gently. Eurydice moaned, grabbing onto Orpheus’s hair and tugging at it.

Orpheus gasped, moving his hands down to remove Eurydice’s pants, and then her underwear. He froze up for a second, as if he was unsure.

Sensing his fear, Eurydice took one of his hands and smiled at him. “It’s okay,” she assured him. “It’s more than okay, actually. Please. I...it’s been awhile, y’know.”

Orpheus nodded wordlessly, smiling up at Eurydice as she removed his shirt, and then the rest of his clothes. He stared at her for a few moments, trying to take everything in. He was still staring at her when she grabbed him and kissed him, grinning.

“Orpheus. Lover,” Eurydice said. She kissed his neck, sucking at the skin there until he whined, causing Eurydice to smirk. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said. She took one of his hands, kissing each one of his fingers before pulling his hand up into her mouth, sucking on his fingers.

He continued to glance up at her in awe, not saying a word, still in a state of shock that she was really here, that this was really happening. She climbed into his lap, grinding against him, causing him to let out a moan. “I love you,” he whispered.

“And I love you. May I have you again?” Eurydice asked, as if she needed his permission. As if it was common for her to be the uncertain one, instead of him.

“Of course.”

Eurydice smirked again, kissing Orpheus a few more times before grabbing his cock and sitting on it so that she could properly ride him. She pulled at his hair gently, closing her eyes before starting to move and up down with him inside her.

Orpheus cried out, not realizing how much he had missed this feeling until now. He reached up to grab at Eurydice’s hair, almost without thinking, and already he felt overwhelmed. Eurydice clearly did as well, proven by the stray tears that ran down her cheeks as she rode him.

“Orpheus, my love,” she groaned, picking up speed. She’d been with him like this so many times before, but it somehow felt like their first time again, both of them having gone way too long without the other. 

Orpheus didn’t respond, or at least he didn’t respond with words - he whined, grabbing on to her back, relishing in the feeling of the two of them being joined in such intimate ways again. Eurydice almost laughed, squeezing her eyes shut as she continued to ride Orpheus.

“Orpheus, fuck,” she moaned, not realizing until now how much she had missed this. She moved her hands, pushing him against the train’s wall, as she continued to ride him. “Lover… ” she cried, “I missed you so much, I missed this…”

And it was true. She thought that never again would she get to do this, never again would she get to grind against Orpheus while he was inside of her. She hadn’t even let herself fantasize about it, because she knew that reality would only make her sad.

But now it _was_ her reality, her lover throbbing inside her while she moved and clenched against him. She moved to start kissing his neck again, sucking at his sensitive skin, wanting nothing more than to please him. She could feel the tears running down her face, and she vaguely noticed Orpheus’s own tears. She wrapped her legs even tighter around his waist, hoping to bring more pleasure to the both of them.

Orpheus moved his hands then to run his fingers down her back, being careful not to run his nails too deep and scratch her. “Eurydice-” he moaned. “Lover, please, I’m close already…”

Orpheus's pleas were enough to push Eurydice over the edge. She clenched tightly around Orpheus as she came, reaching up to pull at his hair again, squeezing her eyes shut with pleasure. Orpheus’s own peak shortly followed as he gave one more thrust into Eurydice, coming inside of her with a final cry of her name, tears flowing freely now as he pulled her even closer, kissing her again. 

Eurydice smiled at Orpheus, kissing his forehead. “I love you,” she told him. “And I wasn’t lying earlier when I said that I don’t blame you.”

Orpheus nodded, deciding not to argue with her on the topic. “How have you been holding up?” he asked.

“Poorly. But I’m gradually getting used to it. I’m much more worried about your well-being than I am my own.”

Orpheus looked away, unsure of how to respond. He certainly hadn’t been doing very well lately, but he didn’t have much time with Eurydice and he didn’t want to upset her by telling her what was going on with him. How he couldn’t sing or write anymore. How Hermes and Persephone had to force him to eat. How he slept on the floor because it was too painful to fall asleep without his muse next to them in their bed.

As if sensing all of this, Eurydice leaned in to kiss him again, this time on his cheek. “It’s okay, my love. You don’t have to talk about it, I know it’s been hard. Can you sing for me?” she asked, changing the subject.

Orpheus forced himself to smile at her. “Sure.” He could still do that, he told himself. For her. In her presence.

“Have you written anything new lately?” Eurydice asked, reluctantly climbing off of his lap. She knew that Persephone had implied that he hadn’t, but she decided to ask anyway. Whatever the answer was, she wanted to hear it from Orpheus himself.

“Uh...Well, I...no, not exactly,” Orpheus stammered. “I try. I really do. I have random verses written, half-songs, mournful ones, but I can’t- I couldn’t-”

“It’s okay,” Eurydice said again. “You can just play one of your old songs. I just want to hear your music again.” She shivered, grabbing her uniform off of the floor and putting it back on. She took Orpheus’s bandana too, smirking at him as she wrapped it around her neck. “I’m stealing this, by the way.”

“Fine by me,” Orpheus said. “I have more than enough extras, and it looks good on you.” It was the truth, but he was also talking as an attempt to avoid Eurydice’s request. After a few moments he sighed. He could do this for her. He _wanted_ to. He was just afraid of not being enough. “I’ll try to sing for you,” he said. “But I’m out of practice, and I know I’m not up to my usual skills. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You could never disappoint me,” Eurydice said, her voice full of honesty. “You can just sing one of your old songs, if you’re more comfortable with doing that. I understand if you haven’t written anything new.”

Orpheus gave her a half-smile. Her words sounded so genuine, the least he could do was give her what she requested, even though she’d probably ask him to stop once she realized how bad he’d gotten. He picked his lyre up off the floor and froze for a moment, trying to take in his situation. He was with Eurydice. She still loved him. This might not even be his last time seeing her. He still had his muse. Suddenly feeling more motivated than he had in almost a year, he started singing the song of love - not just the love of him and Eurydice, of Hades and Persephone too.

He must’ve started crying again at some point during the song, because by the time that he finished playing, his face was dripping wet with tears. Eurydice was crying too, overwhelmed from everything that had happened. She dared not let her suffering be known to the inhabitants of a Hadestown, but around Orpheus, she felt safe letting her emotions show freely.

“You’re still so good, my love,” she said after a few moments. “At music, I mean. Please, keep it up, for me if no one else.”

Orpheus didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was only able to sing because she was near him, and that he’d probably lose his abilities and motivation once more when he was alone again. After all, maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe she was right.

“How often will I get to see you?” Orpheus asked. “I can’t promise much, but I can promise that it’ll…help me to keep it up, if I get to...”

“I don’t know,” Eurydice said. “Likely not too often, because the last thing we want is for Hades to get suspicious. But I’m sure that Hermes and Persephone will help us out as much as possible.”

“Do you think we could leave the train at some point? Go back home?”

“I doubt it. I want that, but even doing this is a huge risk. I can’t completely leave the world of the dead. It’s not even just Hades’s rules, it’s the way things work. Sorta like how it’s not easy for the living to enter the underworld, it’s not easy for the dead to enter the above world. At least, that’s how Persephone explained it to me.”

_Not easy_ was an understatement of course, but Eurydice didn't want to word anything too harshly.

So it wasn’t possible. Orpheus hadn’t really expected any other answer from her, but it still upset him a bit. Although he was more than grateful for what they could have, he did want his lover back fully. But he messed that up and that wouldn’t be possible, not until he died too, and no one was going to let that happen for a while. _It’ll be okay,_ he told himself. He could learn to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Eurydice looked out the window then, and she recoiled a bit when she saw the mortal realm. As much as she had yearned for it, she’d forgotten what it was like - suddenly, it was the earth that seemed too bright, not the artificial electric lights of Hadestown. She definitely still missed the world of the living, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle being there, even if it had been allowed. She didn’t belong there anymore. She looked away from the window and turned back to Orpheus, feeling a lot more tired than she had just a few minutes ago.

Of course, he picked up on this. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice thick with worry.

“Nothing,” Eurydice said, shaking her head. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen the world up top, and it’s overwhelming. I’m not sure if I’d even like it anymore.”

_I need to stop forgetting that she’s dead_ , Orpheus told himself. _She feels and looks alive right now, but she’s not, and if I couldn’t bring her back, the least I can do is try to accept it._ He felt himself starting to cry again, so he buried his face into Eurydice’s shoulder, relaxing only slightly when she nuzzled up close to him.

“We never got to get married,” he sobbed. “We kept saying we would, but we never did, and now we almost definitely can’t-”

“Shh. Don’t matter if we ever officially got married or not, I’m still gonna refer to you as my husband.”

The words were meant to be a comfort, and Orpheus supposed that they were indeed comforting, but it just made him cry even harder.

The two of them stayed like that for a few moments, then Orpheus scooted away. “We probably don’t have much time left, you know,” he said. He picked his clothes up off from the floor, dressing himself before cuddling up to Eurydice again. “Do you think I’ll be allowed to keep writing you letters until I see you again?”

“Sure, I don’t see why Hermes couldn’t sneak them to me like he’s been doing. But, my love, can you promise me that you’ll try to start making music again? I know it’ll be hard, but…” Eurydice paused. “I understand if you can’t, of course. I won’t be disappointed or anything. Please do try, though.”

“I’ll try. For you.” Orpheus buried his face into Eurydice’s shoulder then, wanting to get as close to her as possible. The two of them stayed like that for a few moments, and then there was a knock at the door of their train car.

“I hate to say it, but I should drop Eurydice back off now. I know that the boss will question me if he sees the train makin’ too many trips back and forth," Hermes yelled out.

“Yeah, got it,” Eurydice called back, noticing how broken her voice sounded. She stood up once the train came to a stop, clinging to Orpheus.

“I have to stay on here, right? I can’t get out with you?” Orpheus asked.

“No. You can’t.” The train door opened then, and Eurydice felt like crying again. “I don’t wanna go back. I just want to go home with you.”

Orpheus didn’t say anything, because he knew he couldn’t comfort her. He wanted the exact same thing, but it was an impossible request. Instead, he squeezed her as tightly as he could, staring down at the floor rather than looking at her or at Hadestown.

Hermes crept up behind them then, startling them both. “The longer you put it off, the more difficult it will be for all of us.” He felt terrible about rushing the two of them, but this whole thing was too much of a risk to begin with. They couldn’t make it worse by lingering there on the train.

“Orpheus. I will see you again. Look at me, okay? That’s a promise.” Eurydice tried to sound certain, tried to reassure him.

Orpheus looked up at her, letting himself get lost in her eyes for a few more seconds. “Alright. You’re right. We’ll see each other again.” He still didn’t feel so sure, but it was a nice belief to hold. He leaned down to give her one final kiss, then reluctantly let go of her.

“And I’ll write, too,” Eurydice said. She forced herself to smile, then turned towards Hermes. “And thank you, so much, for letting this happen. I can’t express how grateful I am.”

“Just don’t mention it,” Hermes said. “I mean that literally. See you around, girl.”

Eurydice reluctantly waved to the two of them, then stepped off of the train, ready to walk back to her workplace in Hadestown. But she didn’t. She stood on the platform and watched as the train door’s closed and the train left the realm of the dead.

She trekked back at a slow pace, not in any hurry to get back. She didn’t even have the energy to feel nervous about being caught. With Orpheus gone, she felt dead again. Emotionless.

And so she resumed the work she had been doing before she’d snuck off, casting a few glances around her to see if anyone had noticed her absence. No one showed any emotion at her random return, as if none of the workers had even noticed. Good. She was safe. 

She had to work twice as hard as usual to make up for her lost time, and by the time that she was done, she was in desperate need of a drink - plus, she needed to thank Persephone again anyway. At first, Eurydice and Persephone made small talk in the bar, and it wasn’t until Eurydice was almost finished her drink that Persephone raised her eyebrows and asked, “So?”

“I must thank you, again,” Eurydice said. “I’m assuming that Hades didn’t catch on to anything?”

“Nope. Far as he knows, you spent the whole day workin’. He didn’t even begin to suspect nothing, which proves you’re mighty good at creepin’ around.” She smiled at her.

“But doesn’t he know, though? Can’t he tell if a worker leaves?”

“‘Course he can, but if it ain’t his main focus, he ain’t gonna pay it as much mind as you’d expect. I can distract him fine when I’m here, so you should be alright for now.”

Eurydice nodded, giving Persephone another grateful smile. “I should probably get back to work now,” she said, not near as reluctant about it as she was just a few days ago. She downed the rest of her drink, pushing the empty glass towards Persephone. She didn't realize until then that she was still wearing the bandana that she'd taken from Orpheus, but she was too intoxicated and drained to care at this point. She tightened it around her neck, waving goodbye to Persephone as she exited the speakeasy. She took a deep breath and went back to her work area, ready to face her everlasting overtime.

**Author's Note:**

> ah! i haven't posted in so long, i'm really sorry, and I initially planned to regularly update the stuff I've already written instead of start new, oops?...I'll get back to my other fics eventually, I promise, and I also plan to start a Great Comet one and a Ghost Quartet one. And I have various Hadestown one-shots planned that are not part of my currently existing fics. I've been writing a lot despite the fact that I haven't been posting, I've just been lazy and focused on other things I guess? I know that no one really reads or enjoys my stuff but I feel like I owe everyone an apology for my lack of activity anyway! I've been wanting to post this for awhile now but am only just now getting to it, clearly. :/ I was in a slump for most of last year between school, work, and trying to stay alive in general.
> 
> I hope you all are taking care of yourself....I hope that under the social isolation I'll be able to actually write some more and post all of the stuff that I already have written! I was supposed to see Hadestown again so I'm upset that didn't happen but I do plan to see it the first day that Broadway re-opens! And I met Anaïs Mitchell before all of this virus shit happened, and I'm in Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, I guess? I mean, they told us that it will still happen at some point in the future. So that's exciting!  
> Social media...  
> Tumblr - rated-r-for-grantaire/hadsephone/hadestowntour/various others  
> Twitter/Tiktok (sorry) - ButchHades  
> Instagram - thisbrightstar  
> Genius - effiefasting.haymitchdrunk  
> Youtube - Lumina Pontmercy/Sky T.


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